The primary purpose of the invention is to reduce sound or vibration transmitted through large structures (for example ships, oil rigs, bridges, buildings and other structures) by converting this movement into electrical energy.
It is already known that energy may be absorbed or harvested by converting the movement or vibration of a surface into electrical energy which can then be used as a power source or dissipated. However, previous applications have been on a smaller scale and traditionally preferred to use piezoelectric transducers. While such actuators can be used for small scale power harvesting, larger forces such as might be found in the scale of structures being considered (for example the hull of a large cruise ship) need to be an order of magnitude more powerful.
The transducer may also function as a sensor. This may replace, or, supplement existing sensing applications. In the example of bridges, the sensor signal may be used to monitor vibration levels from traffic.
Traditionally, to provide audio coverage for a large area would have required many speakers. However, if the structure is driven with an audio signal, wide coverage may be achieved with fewer sound sources and associated wiring and amplification.